Commodore Semi (JapCrap) Info?

[nick]

Hi all,

Does anybody have any info on Commodore guitars.

Just bought a cheap old semi-acoustic EB2-like bass.
Been after a semi [i](finar)[/i] for a while particularly something old. But, couldn't justify expense of Gibson/Epiphone
Can't find any info at all on net about this brand, except few favourable six-sting reviews on Harmony. Remember a mate having what seemed a nice Commodore 335 copy many years ago.

It looks very similar to Univox basses of the same type, from 70's. So I'm guessing it counts as Japcrap firewood(?)

Any ideas, familiar to you Jon?

[attachment=4158:commodore1.jpg][attachment=4160:commodore2.jpg][attachment=4159:commodore3.jpg]


Many thanks for any info

Edited December 17, 2007 by nick

[Bassassin]

[quote name='nick' post='105314' date='Dec 17 2007, 01:23 PM']It looks very similar to Univox basses of the same type, from 70's. So I'm guessing it counts as Japcrap firewood(?)

Any ideas, familiar to you Jon?[/quote]

Can't give you a 100% ID but...

[url="http://www.matsumoku.org/models/aria/hollow/sem/semi.html"]http://www.matsumoku.org/models/aria/hollow/sem/semi.html[/url]

Check out the 5120 bass - particularly the neck - offset dots, Gibbo headstock, same tuners & TRC, they're related alright.

Bear in mind it doesn't necessarily mean it's a Matsumoku - all the contributors to the Mat board agree there's no confirmed Aria/ Mat link prior to 1975 - indeed it's not confirmed that Matsumoku built guitars at all before then, and yours looks older than that.

However, it's widely accepted that Univox was sourced from the same builder as Aria - and this looks like pretty good evidence:



And the neckplate will have "Steel Reinforced Neck" and a random serial number, as well as Made in Japan. I know these things....

According to the old [i]Guru's Guitar Guide[/i], Commodore was:

[quote]"Japan, late 60s - 70s, UK importer brand name, at first on various cheapo originals, and then some copies, eg Dan Armstrong see through solid repro."[/quote]

Anyway Nick, do post some piccies when it drops through your letterbox!

J.

[nick]

[quote name='Bassassin' post='105630' date='Dec 17 2007, 11:06 PM']Can't give you a 100% ID but...

[url="http://www.matsumoku.org/models/aria/hollow/sem/semi.html"]<a href="http://www.matsumoku.org/models/aria/hollow/sem/semi.html" target="_blank">http://www.matsumoku.org/models/aria/hollow/sem/semi.html[/url]</a>

Check out the 5120 bass - particularly the neck - offset dots, Gibbo headstock, same tuners & TRC, they're related alright.

Bear in mind it doesn't necessarily mean it's a Matsumoku - all the contributors to the Mat board agree there's no confirmed Aria/ Mat link prior to 1975 - indeed it's not confirmed that Matsumoku built guitars at all before then, and yours looks older than that.

However, it's widely accepted that Univox was sourced from the same builder as Aria - and this looks like pretty good evidence:



And the neckplate will have "Steel Reinforced Neck" and a random serial number, as well as Made in Japan. I know these things....

According to the old [i]Guru's Guitar Guide[/i], Commodore was:



Anyway Nick, do post some piccies when it drops through your letterbox!

J.[/quote]

Many thanks Jon for info & links, much appreciated.

It is a bit of a mystery brand, though I do recall seeing one or two Commodore 335s knocking around many years ago.

Hopefully I'll get it before Christmas. It was relatively cheap, so I'm not expecting anything that great - might be a bargain, could be a bag of sh*t (?) - a typical Ebay gamble
If its comparable to the six-sting versions favourably reviewed on Harmony, I'll be happy.

Will post some photos once I've got it, & given it a clean - apparently not been played for years!
Will undoubtably need setting up etc, fancy putting some black tapewounds on it....

Thanks again & have a good Christmas

Edited December 18, 2007 by nick

[nick]

[quote name='Bassassin' post='105630' date='Dec 17 2007, 11:06 PM'][url="http://www.matsumoku.org/models/aria/hollow/sem/semi.html"]<a href="http://www.matsumoku.org/models/aria/hollow/sem/semi.html" target="_blank">http://www.matsumoku.org/models/aria/hollow/sem/semi.html[/url]</a>



And the neckplate will have "Steel Reinforced Neck" and a random serial number, as well as Made in Japan. I know these things....


Anyway Nick, do post some piccies when it drops through your letterbox!

J.[/quote]

Hi Jon
Arrived yesterday. In suprisingly good condition, only fault being loss of some of the pickup surround. 34" neck is lovely to play, albeit slimmer than I'm normally used to. Good action too, doesn't really require much of a setup at all. Has a lovely tone, will sound better once I've put some new flats on it. Not sure yet if I'm going to change pickup, output is a bit lower than my other basses, but still sounds great & also [i]useable[/i] through my old WEM. Also has a cool dampener thing on the bridge. Very happy with it - IMHO a bargain!

Few pictures here:

[attachment=4251:Commodore1_004.JPG]
[attachment=4250:Commodore1_008.JPG]

Edited December 21, 2007 by nick

[nick]

And a couple more!
[attachment=4254:Commodore1_006.JPG]

[attachment=4252:Commodore1_007.JPG]

[Bassassin]

Lovely - I do like it when you pick up an old instrument like this & it shows little sign of ever having been played - I've had a few like that. Full scale is pretty cool, I kind of expected it to be medium - which is one reason I've not gone for one of these myself yet.

I'd say if the pup sounds good, leave it & turn your amp up!

J.

[Musky]

I was thumbing through some old copies of Making Music and spotted a Commodore in the Guitar Guru section. Bearing in mind he was writing 14 years ago, Paul Day thought these originated from Matsumoku and were imported/badged by Rosetti. The instrument he was talking about was a solid bodied guitar, but he reckoned he'd seen identical instruments with Aria and Conrad badges.